Reviewing a children's book from 2018 every day

A Night Divided by Jennifer A. Nielsen

Summary: When Gerta is 8, her father and brother Dominic go to West Berlin to look for work, preparing to move there from the east. While they’re gone, the Berlin wall goes up overnight. Four years later, she spots the two of them on an observation platform on the western side of the wall. Her father seems to be pantomiming for her to dig. When he manages to smuggle her a picture of a building, Gerta is sure he means for her and her other brother Fritz to start there and tunnel an escape route through the wall. As they work on their tunnel, their neighbors and friends grow more and more suspicious, and before long, completing it has become a life-and-death proposition. Grades 5-8.

Pros: An eye-opening story of life behind the Iron Curtain during the early 1960’s, with danger lurking everywhere for Gerta and her family, resulting in an exciting story from start to finish.

Cons: The page-turning suspense was so intense that I almost booked a cardiologist appointment before I was done.